Cave Access
Reasons for access restrictions to some caves
There are 3 main reasons - landowner requirements, conservation or safety. Sometimes restrictions are because of a combination of these factors.
Cave Access
All caves entrances belong to someone and it is through their goodwill and cooperation that we are allowed to visit them. It must be accepted that there is no automatic right to visit a cave.
Gere are examples of the variety of cave owners:-
Householders (eg Singing River Mine is in a private garden.)
Farmers (eg Swildons and most other caves on Mendip)
Organisations (eg GB and other Chaterhouse caves is on land owned by the Somerset Wildlife Trust)
Access Arrangements
Access arrangements are always negotiated. This sometimes take years to achieve and requires a great deal of effort on the part of individuals in the caving community.
Access arrangements may change because of new ownership, concerns from the landowner about damage to property, liability, or conservation issues. There may be many other reasons specific to a cave.
Access can be withdrawn at any time.
Access Criteria
Access rules are in place where required by the landowner, or for conservation purposes.
The access requirements for each cave can be found in the Access Guide on the CSCC website, and are clearly stated in Mendip Underground under an Access paragraph. Please note that the book was printed some years ago and the access criteria may have changed, so it is advisable to check the CSCC Access Guide . http://www.cscc.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=access:start
They are as important as the kit list.
Ignoring Access Criteria
Ignoring access criteria could lead to the loss of access to caves. In some cases many cave entrances are controlled by one landowner and ignoring access criteria could lead to several caves being shut down.
Examples of Access criteria
Swildons
£1 Goodwill fee
No parking on grassy areas
No changing by the cars – only in the Barn
We all know the first one, but the last 2 are often ignored. Villagers can quite rightly get uptight about cavers cars churning up the Village Green, or semi naked bodies wandering around the car park.
GB Cave (and all Chaterhouse Caves)
The Access Paragraph states:-
The cave is locked. Refer to Appendix 1 C(Chaterhouse Caving Company Ltd) for access conditions.
The conditions can be found in full here http://charterhouse-caving-company.ltd.uk/
Here are the key Access Arrangements for CCC Ltd
1. No-one under the age of 16 years is permitted in the caves. For particular conditions relating to 16-18 year olds, see this page. http://charterhouse-caving-company.ltd.uk/minors.htm
2. Novices must not be introduced to caving in the Charterhouse area caves. By way of guidance, the Company feels that cavers who have done less than 4 previous trips are likely to be still novices, as are all cavers who feel the need for professional leadership.
3. Caves should be kept locked at all times.
4. The party size in any cave is restricted to 6, except in Charterhouse Cave where it is 3 plus a leader. Please note that carrying more than one key does NOT allow a group larger than six to claim to be more than one party. Rules should be obeyed in the spirit as well as the letter.
5. No digging is allowed nor are fixed aids to be placed without the express permission of the Company.
6. No carbide lamps are to be used.
7. These caves are on Nature Reserves, respect the regulations governing these, as shown on the signs at the gates, both above and below ground.
Fairy Quarry
The code for the padlock on the carpark was changed to 0824 on the 1st May 2022.
The Future Of Caving
As club members the future of caving is in our hands. We may be old hands, or new to caving, but we must follow the access criteria to the letter and in the spirit of the access arrangements.
Failure to do this could easily result in tighter access- possibly limiting the number of trips, the introduction of a learder system, or even complete loss of access as has already happened with a number of caves and some of Bath stone mines..
Useful Reading
Chaterhouse Caving Company
http://charterhouse-caving-company.ltd.uk/
Council Of Southern Caving Clubs (Access Updates)
http://www.cscc.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=access:guide_updates
University Of Bristol Speleological Society
http://www.ubss.org.uk/cave_access_mendip_wales.php
Council Of Northern Caving Clubs:-
https://cncc.org.uk/news/caves-on-access-land
Cave access Limited
(A company created to manage recreational access on behalf of Cavers and Mine Explorers to various mines and caves on land owned by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). This is a new organisation which merges three former public bodies - Forestry Commission Wales, Environment Agency Wales and Countryside Council for Wales).
http://www.caveaccess.co.uk/index.html
Cambrian Caving Council (Welsh Access Arrangements)
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